I have a confession to make. When all those around me were screaming and swooning over The Beatles, my favorite group was The Supremes.

Turns out I was not alone.

Diana Ross and her pals were the single most popular American group of that era, and their sales worldwide were right up there with the Fab Four. Motown was the definition of American music in the mid-1960s.

It was that sound — Barry Gordy’s brash combination of rhythm and blues with a bouncy rock and roll edge — combined with the flash and the choreography, and songs that had a kind of stick-to-your-ribs familiarity, I couldn’t get enough. If you’re like me, then you are going to enjoy “The Sounds of Motown,” a revue filled with familiar favorites now at the Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theater in Claremont.

Unlike some tributes, this show doesn’t try to tell the life story of either Gordy or his company. Rather, it simply collects a group of talented performers to recreate (at least in general tone) the music and the group dynamics that made Motown Records. Martha and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder are all represented, as is, rather inexplicably in that she was not a Motown artist, Patti LaBelle. By the end, folks are ready to get up and dance.

Some renditions ring truer than others, of course, and even among a very talented cast there are standout moments. Roshanda Johnson’s version of “Neither One of Us” leaves one wishing there was more Gladys Knight music in the show than there is, and her “Lady Marmalade,” however inexplicable in this revue, is terrific to listen to.

Indeed, all of the cast has impressive talent. Eric Bailey, Paul David Bryant, Allisonne Crawford, Lawrence Cummings, Jo Rhea Dalcour, Jazz Madison and Valentina Merchant each have moments where they shine, and the whole cast blends well together — a neat trick in itself.

Director John LaLonde keeps the thing moving along at just the right pace to avoid those “we’ve all got to change costume now” lags. Plus, the cast is joined by a poundingly good live band, giving the whole enterprise a specific energy.

Now, there is always an issue when one is providing covers of songs whose original performances are permanently imprinted in people’s brains. There are occasions where a harmony isn’t quite as harmonious as one remembers, or a tonality doesn’t match the particular timbre of the original singer. The decision to rotate performers to the “up front” spot means those tonalities sometimes shift from song to song by a single artistic group, which can be disconcerting. Still, this ensemble works together to bring the essence of Motown alive enough that by the time they ask folks to feel free to get up and dance, it’s what you want to do.

As always at Candlelight Pavilion’s main productions, the show comes along with a fine dinner. And that is special too, of course, as this is the last dinner theater in the greater Los Angeles area. But I have to admit, the nostalgia is pretty sweet.

See more of Frances Baum Nicholson’s reviews at stagestruckreviews.com.

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